Ever I Loved: The Wedding
by ElizabethBella
Summary: COMPLETE! Happily ever after? It's the wedding of Pacey and Joey... Will Dawson make it in time? Will he and Andie finally be able to let go? And who is the mystery woman waiting in the trees? Whole cast appears. Please R/R
1. Chapter 1

_Note: Dawson's Creek and all its inhabitants belong to the mind of Kevin Williamson, and the corporations of the WB, and assorted others. I am just taking them out to play. Please don't sue me._

**WARNING: **_This is a fluffy bunny story. Wrapping up, a few years after the finale. The wedding of Joey and Pacey and the moving on of Dawson and finding happiness for the rest. The 'what happened next' little 2-hour movie of the week that will never happen. Everyone makes an appearance, even Audrey._

_Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!!! _

_Please, I plead, comment, review. This is my first fluffball. Maybe my last :) _

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** The Backyard of the B&B, The Wedding Day**

As the breeze softly played with their hair and the flowers, everyone turned to look back.

An aisle had been made between the seats, freshly cut grass that smelled like everything new and green.

Standing there, ready to take that long walk to the pavilion, were Amy and Jack.

A bit of stage fright had driven the 3-year-old up into her father's arms. He'd carefully tucked the fluffy white layers of tulle around her and carried her (step-together, step-together) as she trickled rose petals from the basket she held against her chest.

Next came Lily. Her mother and stepfather frantically photographing her as she jauntily followed, making the skirt of her dress swing.

And then, with a swell of music from the quartet, Bessie and Joey stepped out from the door of the Bed and Breakfast.

Pacey felt like he'd been zapped with his brother's taser.

To see her was to realize that this amazing woman really was about to marry him.

_Joey was his bride. Pacey Witter's bride._

_How off-the-wall surreal was that?_

Her wedding dress was a simple column, fitted through the waist. She carried a simple bouquet in her hand. Her hair was twisted up, with a flower over one ear.

_She was amazing._

Their arms linked, Joey and Bessie stepped on to the rose petal path and began their slow walk.

Pacey stood next to Doug on the pavilion and watched her approach. Tried to remember how to breathe.

Joey's soft smile grew as their eyes met. A few loose curls of hair on her shoulder caught in the breeze.

He knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life.


	2. Chapter 2  The Moment of Marrying

_Note: Dawson's Creek and all its inhabitants belong to the mind of Kevin Williamson, and the corporations of the WB, and assorted others. I am just taking them out to play. Please don't sue me._

_W/N: Yes, this starts out like a fairytale. So, brace yourself... there's a little more fluff before the angst.  
_

**…………………………...  
The Backyard of the B&B, The Wedding Day**

A flash of shyness, at being the center of attention, and Joey looked down at her red-tipped toes peeking out of her strappy sandals.

Watched herself take another step towards becoming Pacey's wife.

Past Grams and Andie, who were waving to Amy as she dropped petals on the path. Past Audrey and her vaguely famous escort. Past the Witter family, which took up two rows. Past Joey's father, who sat stiffly beside Bodie - who was giving his son the thumbs up for carrying the ring pillow so carefully, if belatedly, behind her.

Joey reached the edge of the wooden step.

"Be happy, sis," Bessie murmured in her ear.

Joey's breath caught, and she nodded as her sister took her place on the pavilion across from Doug.

Then Pacey moved down to her side.

Slipped his hand over her elbow. Grinned, his eyes shining. Led her up. Forward.

"Hi," Pacey whispered, his eyes drinking her in.

"Hi," she whispered back, a half-smile playing on her lips.

"You're beautiful," he grinned.

She blushed a bit, pleased.

They faced each other in front of the minister. In front of the wedding arbor, decorated in flowers and streamers. In front of their families and friends.

As the minister opened his mouth to speak, Pacey shook his head. Unable to stop himself, he slipped a hand around Joey's neck and kissed her.

_Softly. Madly. Desperately._

After a few moments, people began to giggle. A few, maybe more, began to clap.

The minister cleared his throat.

And again.

Loudly.

"Oh," Pacey said, pulling back.

Joey grinned.

"We usually wait to do that at the end," the minister announced.

"Practice run," Jack said in a mock whisper, standing next to Doug still with his daughter in his arms.

The small crowd erupted in laughter. Joey handed her bouquet back to her sister and reached out her hands. Pacey interlaced his fingers with hers, looked at her, trying to memorize the moment. She looked back, and felt her heart jump.

"Thank you, for marrying me," he told her, reverently.

"She hasn't done it, yet," the minister reminded them.

"Right," Pacey realized. "Well, don't let me interrupt you."

The minister tried desperately to hold it together as some guests burst out in another round of laughter.

After many deep breaths, the stillness returned. Except for the summer wind fluttering, and the click of the cameras.

Finally, the quiet moment of marrying had arrived.

"Dearly beloved," the minister began. "And I can tell that you are all very much beloved here…"

Pacey didn't stop himself from crying. He tightened his grip on Joey's hands and lost himself to what they were doing.

She lost herself right back.

"We have gathered to celebrate the union of Pacey and Joey…"


	3. Chapter 3 With This Ring

_W/N: Dawson's Creek doesn't belong to me, I'm just taking the characters out to play. No profit here, just check my bank account!  
A horrible thing happened between the last chapter and this one - I watched some Pacey/Andie vids on YouTube. Took me ages and ages to get my mind back into 'shipping P/J!  
Thank you so much for the reviews - they kicked me into finished this without too much meandering.  
_

**…………………………...-ooOOOoo-...****…………………………...**

The wheels of Dawson Leery's rental car crunched on the gravel as he pulled around to the top of the driveway.

As he turned the key to silence the engine, he could just hear the rumbling voice of the pastor as he presided over the ceremony.

Across the lawn, the bridal couple were just blurry dots. He in his cream suit, she in shimmering white. Their hands locked together as the smiled into each other's eyes.

Dawson rubbed his face, swallowing his disappointment. He was late.

"You're here," she said through the window.

He jumped and turned. "Gretchen!"

"Hi," she answered quietly, smiling. "You OK?"

"The puddle jumper from Boston was canceled, something about mechanical trouble. I ended up renting a car and fighting traffic all the way," he answered, frustrated.

"I know, they tried to call."

"Phone battery's dead, charger's in my luggage. In the trunk." He groaned and glanced back over the lawn at the pavilion.

"It's just started," she promised him, pulling open the driver's door. "C'mon. I volunteered for Dawson-watch duty. They won't forgive me if I let you sit out in the car for the whole thing."

He looked up at her. "Dawson-watch duty? I seem to remember you resigning from that particular assignment."

She shook her head a little, smiling. "We can catch up later…"

"Yeah," Dawson answered as he pulled himself out of the car. "Yeah, I'd like that."

She looked back at the ceremony, a little impatient.

He held out his hand.

She took it.

They carefully made their way to the back behind the last row of chairs. Standing almost against the B&B, they watched as the minister began the vows.

Joey and Pacey faced each other, utterly focused on one another.

She'd looked at him that way. For years, there she'd been. Passionate, sparks flying . Looking for that path that would keep their love alive, in some relationship…

"I, Josephine…" she began, huskily.

_Remember. Remember fighting for her. Before she was lost.  
_

_"Joey…I don't know, but I do know that if I get on this plane, I am never going to find out. All right, because, we're going to move on, we're going to grow up, and four years from now we are going to wake up, and we are going to be complete strangers to each other. The only thing that I know for sure, it that I don't want that to happen. Do you?"_

"Take you, Pacey…"

_Remember._

_"You've been everything to me. And I have been your sidekick, your confidant, your other half for so long and that's how our relationship works. And it's a nice place for you, but for me it's scary. Cause I realized that aside from you, I don't have anything."_

"To be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner, and my love…

_"Friendship... right now we don't have a friendship. We don't have a friendship! As of this moment we do not have a friendship!"_

"…To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad…"

_"I will never be able to forgive you, Dawson. I don't even want to know you right now."_

"I give you my hand, my heart, my life, from this day forward…"

_"Joey, it's not you! It's us. I can't go through all that again. You say it will be different, but it won't be."_

"…for as long as we both shall live."

_"Dawson, for so long, you were the only person in the whole world I wanted to be with. Then somehow you became my only one-night stand…"_

"This is my solemn vow."

_"…I don't know what I'm going to do. I mean, she's my best friend, you know? She's more than that. She's everything."_

Gretchen squeezed his hand and Dawson jumped a little, brought back to reality.

At the end of the aisle, Pacey took a long breath.

Beside him, Doug handed two rings to the minister, who said a short prayer over them.

As Pacey took the smaller one, he cleared his throat. "Joey, I thought about this a lot, and there is a passage…"

He held the ring and nodded to himself. "Uh, OK. Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you…"

His voice grew sure and steady as he looked back up into Joey's eyes. "…For where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord do with me and more if anything but death parts you from me."

"Josephine Potter," He carefully pushed the ring onto her finger. "With this ring I thee wed."

Joey pressed her fingertips against her lips and fought back the tears. Behind her, Bessie openly wept.

After a moment, she took the remaining wedding ring and exhaled.

"Since right now I can barely think in English, much less French, I won't try to say this in the original," Joey met Pacey's eyes, a shy smile on her lips. "The price of love…is simply, love. One must love if one wants to be loved."

She held out the ring in the palm of her hand and studied it for a second. "I think you knew before I did, what this was between us. And yes, it's been a circuitous path that we followed but it did bring us to the same place. Right here. You and me, Pace. You and me, and the family we now are to each other, and our love."

His expression was reverent as she began to push the ring onto his finger. "Pacey Witter, with this ring I thee wed."

A dull ache pressed on Dawson's chest that made it hard to breathe.

_"I don't know, Dawson. I don't know, okay? I just know that I need him."_

_"Need him like you need me? Jo, it's a simple question. Do you need him like you need me?"_

"You OK?" Gretchen asked.

He nodded.

"…And do each of you, here today," the minister's voice rose to the congregation. "Promise your support to the union we consecrate today between Pacey and Joey?"

"I do!" rang out the response.

"I do," answered Dawson, softly.

As the Minister gave his last blessing, Dawson blinked and saw the couple, clearly, for what felt like the first time.

_"Us, Dawson. We were arguing about us. Me and Joey. There's an us here now."_

"We're married?" Pacey asked into the quiet that followed.

"Yes," the minister laughed. "You may now, sir, kiss the bride. Again."

As the crowd burst out into laughter and cheers, Pacey reached out and pulled Joey close. A passionate kiss, bodies pressed together, and lingering.

The band chimed in with an old Louis Armstrong standard and everyone surged forward to wish the couple well.

It was done.

Dawson exhaled.

Beside him, Gretchen squeezed his hand one last time before letting go to hug her brother and his new wife.

Dawson watched her go for a moment before turning back and heading away. Away, through the trees.

Towards the creek.


	4. Chapter 4 Sisters are off limits

_W/N: Dawson's Creek doesn't belong to me, I'm just taking the characters out to play._

_Have you noticed this is a great big fluffball of a story. I mean, where's the plot? Am I the only one who's noticed that the Inspiration Fairy has left me utterly bereft of PLOT?? As long as this is a candy-coated treat, please please please tell me what you'd like to see in the final chapters... Meanwhile, this ends the nostalgia. Wedding always bring the nostalgia, receptions, on the otehr hand, bring revelations and maybe some ... plot? Angst? Tears?_

_All the italics are, indeed, quotes from the show. Many of which I got from TVMegasite, so thank you to them. And another thank you to those who have been so generous as to comment. For you, I cut the Joey/Dawson scene..._

**…………………………oooooooooo0000000000oooooooooo…………………………**

Andie leaned against the B&B and watched as Pacey glowed and grinned with the people congratulating him and Joey. Watched as Amy ran up to him and he caught her, easily bringing her to his waist to dance a little before putting her back down.

_Andie, there used to be a time when you and I were so in sync in everything that we did, just connected. And look at us now! We have the opposite reaction to the exact same event._

_Pacey, please don't do this. Not now. Don't break up with me._

She tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed.

"Hey," her brother whispered at her shoulder.

"Hey!" she twirled and hugged him. "Oh, Jackers…you guys looked wonderful up there. I was bursting."

"Thanks. If you knew how many stores we had to hit before Doug AND Amy could agree on a dress…"

"I believe it," she laughed.

Turning her head to look back at the crowd.

"What are you thinking?" Jack asked, slinging an arm around her.

_You are the single most important person to ever grace my existence._

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Beautiful wedding, don't you think?"

"I think this is getting to you more than you admit…" he told her. "It actually… uh…got to me at one point."

"Really?"

"It's just high school stuff. But I remember, just as I was realizing that being gay wasn't going to uh, go away, that I thought… how easy it would be to fall in love with our Miss Potter."

_Well...at first, it's all a jumble of emotions. Uh, it's hard to pinpoint. It's--it's kind of like expressionistic painting. But, you know, if you get comfortable with it, it's--it's like the first time you see Van Gogh's "Starry night". It's the same sky you've always seen, but everything...is different. Bigger. More passionate._

"Jack, you never said…"

"I didn't," he promised her. "But there was -is- something damn attractive about her. That enthusiasm, and curiosity, and sheer Gidgetness."

"Gidget-ness?"

"Work with me, Sis."

They shared a long, gentle look.

"When do you leave for that new Fellowship program?"

"Tomorrow, last flight out."

"Well, then we best make the best of tonight, huh?" He pulled her towards the bar with a laugh.

Across the lawn, Dawson could hear as the band began to ramp up the music. The staff had rearranged all the chairs around tables and the pavilion had been cleared for dancing.

Waiters bearing appetizers and flutes of champagne worked the crowd, with the biggest concentration being around the bride and groom.

Jack made some kind of impromptu toast to the couple, which his sister seemed to second. A trickle of cheering and laughter made its way to where he stood in the shadow of an ancient tree.

All in all, it reminded Dawson of his mother's wedding to his stepfather. Down to the perfect blue skies and light wind.

The wedding that had ended with Jen in an ambulance.

_No, no, you're the one who taught me that love can suck. That feelings change, passions fade, partners come and go._

Dawson closed his eyes and pushed away the memory.

The crowd began clapping. He looked back and watched as Pacey led Joey out onto the dance floor. As he swung her around and into his arms.

_L__ook at that girl Dawson. You just take a good look. She's a freaking goddess man! How long did you think it was going to be before some guy comes along and is interested in her, I mean really dude? And when that happens what are you gonna do?_

"Ogre in the Woods?"

"What?" Dawson blinked into the sun as she stepped into the shade of the trees.

"Some kind of new script you're writing?" She waved her hand at him. "With a brooding antihero?"

_But along the way you make friends. Good friends. With people that you never even knew existed when you were growing up. Straw people, tin people…And you help each other realize that all the things that you want to be, you already are._

He laughed. "Nah, just a bit less crazy over here. Hi, by the way. And thanks, for before."

"Hi," she responded, a little shyly. "And, you're welcome."

"So. Obvious question - where have you been for the last third of my life?"

"It hasn't been that long," she protested. "I saw you…"

He raised an eyebrow, and waited.

"You father's funeral?" she wondered.

He nodded. "I vaguely remember a glimpse of you."

"I didn't want to intrude," she told him.

"It's not an intrusion. It wouldn't have been."

She looked not a minute older than the last time he'd seen her. Lost her.

_You don't want to miss these moments, even the sad ones, because you'll never get them back. So enjoy this time. Let it wash over you so that your memories of it are strong. Besides, I don't need to spend a month in a car to fall in love with you. I already am in love with you, even more than you know. So good-bye, Dawson Leery. Thank you for changing my life._

"So what is this, really?" she asked, looking around at the woods. "Off-off-off-off Broadway? 'Cuz the party's over there," she indicated with a nod of her head.

"I know. It's just…" he looked around. "The ennui of a nostalgia overdose."

"Ah. That old disease."

"You?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Some things never change, huh?"

"Hmm?"

"Pacey and Joey, and you and I dealing with…"

_Sisters are off-limits. They're like mothers, only pretty._

"No," Dawson interrupted. "No."

She cocked her head to the side, a confused look in her eyes.

"No, Gretchen," he assured her. "Nostalgia does not necessarily equal a longing to return to Peyton Place, I promise you."

"I heard…"

"What?" he challenged.

"That there was…"

"Oh," he groaned. "Look, Gretchen, I've lived in California pretty much since I was, what, 18 years old? That where my life is. And it's absolute murder trying to build a real relationship in that world. Believe me, I've tried."

"I know the feeling," she commiserated, leaning against the tree.

"Last spring, Joey visited me. First time she's ever come out to visit. And having someone, Joey, there with whom I'd had an authentic relationship with…it was just…all the connections seemed…" Dawson sighed, for once at a loss for words.

"And then my brother broke your jaw?"

He burst out laughing. "That's what you heard?"

"Look, I essentially have your entire high school graduating class as in-laws at this point. You don't think I get the scoop?"

"There was no…" He shook his head. "OK, no bone-breaking. I knew the moment I stepped off the plane that I didn't belong here, Gretch. Not anymore. And she? Does."

"I think not so much here, Capeside, as with Pacey."

"Same thing," Dawson pointed out.

"Yeah, I can see that," she conceded. "But now there is nostalgia overdose?"

"It's like soup. Every time I visit. Man, this is the stuff I try desperately to dredge up when I'm writing but not like this…"

"It's all those loose ends…"

"No," Dawson stared into her eyes, utterly serious. "No, Gretchen. No loose ends. Memories? Yes. Friendship? Sure. Love? Absolutely, until the day I die. But the door is not just shut, it's been sealed up with bricks and thick layer of mortar in between. And not because she wears Pacey's ring now. But because, I think, more than 9 years ago I chose to go to California rather than to stay here with her and I kissed her goodbye, in that window." He pointed across the creek at his childhood home.

"Dawson," she sighed.

"Let me finish, OK?"

She nodded.

"Steven Spielberg's first commercial project, it was called _Amblin_. He was 21 years old and his sister wrote the script. He found a producer and the lead actor was the local librarian. It's a romance. A guy and a girl meet, and basically have this ultimate day together. All outdoors, laughing, spitting olives, having fun in a sleeping bag…"

Gretchen smiled a little.

"It's the movie that got Spielberg the ultimate directing deal at Universal. But even so, he didn't do another romance movie for like 20 years. _Amblin_ is his entire statement for the genre for 2 decades. And the really cool thing?"

He grinned at her. "It has no words. Soundtrack, some guitar music. But no dialog."

"Dawson…"

"And now I realize how powerful that is. I see why that worked. Because if anyone has been guilty of talking the magic right out of something…"

Gretchen smiled in agreement and he smiled back. Remembering how beautiful her eyes were.

"So, what ARE you saying about the not saying…"

"Gretchen?"

"Yeah?"

"I really missed you when you left."

"Me, too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

_After all that's happened. We are... friends. If we weren't, you wouldn't have given me this, and I wouldn't be sitting here telling you to do whatever your heart tells you to do. Because the truth is, Gretchen would be lucky to have you._

"Gretchen, are you married?"

"Married?" she coughed in surprise. "No."

"Engaged?"

"No."

"Living with someone? Living in your memories with someone? Going steady? Pinned?"

She shook her head.

"And you live in San Francisco now, right?"

"Uh, outside the city actually…"

"Just up the street," he told her, leaning in.

"Well, if you call 'just up the street' a drive to the airport and then…" she trailed off, seeing his intensity. "Is this the no-dialog part of the movie now?"

He nodded, their eyes still locked.

She smiled.

The guitar of the band began strumming the intro to a new song. Gretchen and Dawson glanced over and back to each other, completely in sync. He reached out his hand to her hair, tugging a strand between his fingers. Feeling its silk on his skin.

Her breath caught, and then his.

The drums kicked in. The singers began.

And Dawson leaned in and kissed Gretchen's lips with a lifetime's worth of passion.

And then, he did it again.


	5. Chapter 5 Eternal Quadrangles

_W/N: Dawson's Creek doesn't belong to me, I'm just taking the characters out to play._

_My original outline for this story is D-E-A-D. This bit of fluffball insists on remaining a fluffball. All angst, gripping drama, and semblances of plot are immediately vomited back at me. What can I do? I'm just the R&! writer, right?_

_It might not help that every time I sit down to write this, the song 'Boombastic' by Shaggy echoes in my head._

_There are 2 more chapters. If there is anything you want to see, please let me know. And I'm begging & pleading for reviews here. Please. This fluff is unlike anything I usually write - angst is more my style - so I feel all naked and dumb here. Throw me a bone, please? Or, you know, a blanket._

_And thanks for the comments so far - you've kept me from giving up as this has gone about 180 degrees from normal for me. You rock. _

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"Hi, you're…" Audrey cocked her head to the side and thought. 

"Andie. Andie McPhee."

"Right!" Audrey grinned, as though she was proud of Andie for getting her own name right.

"We've met before, Audrey," she reminded the other woman.

"We did?" Audrey shrugged. "It must have been a long time ago."

"Last night, at the Icehouse."

Audrey nodded, still drawing a blank. "Sorry," she crinkled her nose in a smile. "It was just crazy last night, wasn't it? And I don't even _drink_. I mean, not anymore. Wait, wait… I remember! You're the high school girlfriend. The one between the teacher and the infamous Joey. Right?"

"Yes," Andie's polite smile was frozen on her face.

"A nurse? Or child…something…"

"Doctor."

"Wow, that sounds just great."

The sincerity in Audrey's face melted Andie's defenses a bit. "And you're a singer?"

"Try to be, anyway. Mostly doing backup, though. I was really into that sort of rock and pop scene out in LA for a long time, but it was on JT's tour that I realized that I'd spent 5 years basically living out of buses. Have you ever lived on a bus?"

"Nooooo," Andie shook her head.

"Well, I do _NOT_ recommend it. Finally, I just had to go home and get my head together. My family bought this gorgeous ranch outside Nashville and I thought, that sounds perfect, right? Next thing you know, it's Grand Ol' Opry and pickup trucks and I'm back on stage but in a whole new way. I'm working with some really amazing acts. I know what you're thinking – Country! Right? But you know what?"

Andie realized Audrey really wanted her to respond. "Uh, what?"

"I'm absolutely loving it!" Her smile was so large it practically split her face and her eyes sparkled with authentic joy.

"That's just, mmm, uh, wow!" Andie cheered, feeling like she'd been caught in a vortex of the other woman's personality.

"Totally!" Audrey laughed. "So, wait, I remember now. You're the one that got Pacey on the Dean's List! Took a minute there, but I got it now. You cheated on him, right? Or went a little crazy. Or maybe more. Or did that come first? With me, I think I was already on the road to crazy and Pacey was a symptom. Although, looking back, he was more than that. But who am I to tell you, right?"

Andie was speechless. She took a swallow of the champagne in her glass and looked around for a quick exit.

Across the lawn, Joey watched the two women chatting. She knew that look in Andie's eyes. '_Audrey overdoses'_ had plagued her freshman year at Worthington. Making her excuses, she began making her way over on a rescue mission.

Audrey cocked her head and met Andie's eyes, "This little group certainly doesn't make for a calm, centered existence, right?"

"Hmm," Andie didn't know how to respond.

"You know, when I met Joey and the rest, I thought they were this normal little clique from this quant little New England town. Ha! Little did I know that 90210 is nothing on these folks. You should have left a warning label on Pacey, saved poor future women from stumbling into the existential angst of that eternal triangle of Dawson and Joey. Pacey and Joey. And don't get me started on all the testosterone man-on-man drama of Pacey and Dawson. You were smart to run of to Spain."

"Italy."

"Oh, I LOVE Italy. Where did you stay?"

Before she could answer, Joey finally arrived and slipped an arm around her former roommate. "Has she taken a breath in the last 5 minutes?" She teased to Andie.

"You kidding?" Audrey laughed, hugging Joey happily.

Andie finished her champagne in a large gulp. "Well, I'm out!"

"Have mine," Joey held out a full glass.

"No, I'll uh…" Andie gave a small smile and headed in the other direction.

"She's a bit mousy," Audrey announced. "When I think about how Pacey feels about school, it just boggles the mind that anyone could get him on the Dean's List. Sure it was way back when in the stone ages and I'm sure she's changed since then, but I gotta tell you - I was expecting a paragon, you know? Like 'Schoolmarm Barbie', with a big pink ruler and…"

"Audrey," Joey interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"How are you? And who's this guy you brought?"

"I don't want to talk about me," Audrey shook her head. "It's YOUR day. May I admire your bridal ensemble? Especially the dress? Amazing! Absolutely gorgeous! How you found it for this instant wedding totally blows my mind. I would have shown up in sackcloth. Or jeans…"

"With YOUR closet?! And it is NOT an instant…"

"What, two month's notice?"

"Once we knew, we just… knew. Besides, it was fun to be putting out attention on something _happy_, for a change."

Audrey nodded and reached out her arms, pulling Joey into a hug. "It's been a crappy time of it, hasn't it?"

Joey held her old roommate and exhaled. "But not today."

"Not today," Audrey agreed. "Today is perfect. Even if you are marrying Pacey."

"Today is perfect because I am marrying Pacey," Joey corrected.

"Oh, let's get me some of those appetizers before you make me lose my appetite," she teased.

"Wife!" Pacey called, grinning at the two women as he approached.

"Husband," she called back, feeling the word on her tongue. And liking it.

Doug walked with his brother, carrying a tray full of appetizers.

"A man after my heart!" Audrey cheered, reaching over to grab several.

"Go ahead," Doug told her dryly. "Please, try some."

"Pacey," Audrey appraised his appearance. "You look not altogether unfortunate."

"Audrey," Pacey replied, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "Lovely as ever."

Audrey blushed a bit and smiled. Turning, she thought a minute. "I know, you're Doug, Pacey's brother. We met last night."

"Among other occasions," Doug replied with a roll of his eyes.

Gale walked up, Lily by her side. "What a beautiful day," she said with a big smile.

"Capeside does seem to shine down on weddings," Joey agreed with a soft look of memory at Gale.

"It does," she agreed. "And you make a stunning bride, Joey. I only wish Lillian..." her voice trailed off.

"Me too," Joey nodded.

Pacey reached his arm around Joey's waist and kissed her shoulder.

"Today feels blessed," Gale said seriously. "By those who couldn't be here as well as those who are."

"Speaking of which, do we know when Dawson will get here?" Audrey asked, stealing another appetizer.

"Mom says she saw him before." Lily announced suddenly.

"You did?" Joey looked at Gale, startled. "I thought he…"

"I saw him just as the ceremony was ending, then he disappeared before we got a chance to say hello."

Pacey shook his head, "If he's here, he would have come up."

"Wait," Doug nodded with his chin towards the woods. "Isn't that him?"

The group moved towards the edge of the lawn and peered into the shadows.

Dawson's fingers were spread across the small of her back. Her hand was wrapped around the back of his neck. Chest to chest, toe to toe, their lips crushed together and eyes closed, lost in the kiss. Their hips digging into each other in a way that was new, and yet, familiar. The steam was practically curling off them.

Gale pulled Lily closed as she inhaled. "Dawson!" she and Joey called at the same moment.

The couple broke apart with a jump. He kept his arm around her possessively and peered into the sun.

It was then they recognized the woman. As she wiped her lips and blinked, her brothers both straightened. "Gretchen!" Doug and Pacey shouted.

Audrey looked over at Joey. "See? This is what I was just telling the other Ex….Drama! Drama all the time with you people!"


	6. Chapter 6 Spiders and Cocoa

_W/N: Dawson's Creek doesn't belong to me, I'm just taking the characters out to play._

_Fluffball, and almost done. Last chapter coming. I'm gonna outright beg now... please please please.. oh, you know!  
_

**…………………………oooooooooo0000000000oooooooooo…………………………**

A mist had rolled in off the creek, bringing a slight chill. The staff folded chairs and stacked them in the truck, eager to finish the night.

Pacey stretched his arms over his head as came in the back door of the B&B, letting out a loud growl of a yawn.

"Hey," Andie noted from her spot on the couch, "weren't we supposed to throw birdseed and rice while you two raced off on a honeymoon?"

"Nah," Pacey scoffed, perching on the sofa arm next to her. "We're spending the night at home. Tomorrow we're taking the True Love 2 and heading down to…somewhere."

He and Joey shared a secret smile.

"Besides," Joey added, "how often do we get together anymore?"

The small group nodded.

"What we need," Grams announced, "is a fire."

Dawson caught Pacey's eye and they stood up and headed out the door looking for firewood.

As they went out, Jack straggled in. "That's Doug and Amy home for the night." He looked around. "What happened to Audrey?"

"She and her date headed back to their room about half an hour ago," Bessie noted.

Jack looked down the hall and shrugged. He headed into the great room and kissed Grams on the cheek before taking a seat on the floor in front of her chair.

"Amy was lovely," Grams told him. "I'm so glad you brought me down for this, Jack."

"It was nothing," Jack demurred. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend the night at our place?"

"I could drive you over,' Gretchen offered.

"No, this is just fine," she patted Jack's hair affectionately.

Outside, Dawson stood, watching the water drift under the dock lights.

"Come help me with these wood spiders, man," Pacey called, peering at the pile of firewood dubiously.

"Yeah, just a sec."

Pacey wandered over to Dawson. Side by side, they stared into the night.

"There's nothing like this anywhere."

"True."

They breathed deep. "At the end of the day, it's where we come from."

"Although, there were probably easier ways to have a childhood."

"Would you really change it, if you had the chance?"

Pacey looked up at the stars and thought. "Some things, yeah. Hell yeah. My dad…"

Dawson nodded. "And I would have spent more time with mine…"

"Yeah. I would have spent more time with yours, too."

They shared a grin. "Less time sweating over grades."

"Less time in detention…"

"Oh, I dunno," Dawson teased. "You met the best people there."

"Ha ha," Pacey stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Less time watching Spielberg movies."

"Oh, harsh."

"Seriously, do you know how many useless Spielberg movies quotes I walk around with because of you? And it's not like I got all this extra brain space going on."

"You barely ever paid attention. It was Joey who…"

"_Mr Hammond, after careful consideration, I have decided not to endorse your park..._"

"Jurassic Park. Big dinosaurs. Of course you remember that one. _You taught me that people will do anything for a potato_."

"Oh, wait, I know this one…that crazy, uh, Empire of the Sun. Yes?"

"Yes."

"_Right now we are advising all our clients to put everything they've got into canned food and shotguns_."

"Gremlins?"

Pacey made a buzzer sound. "Gremlins TWO, ol' chum. Point to me."

"_I have a modest suggestion.._."

"No clue."

"Amistad."

"Yeah, OK, I never really got into that one. _You left just when you were becoming interesting_."

"Sean Connery, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. And _Marcus once got lost in his own museum_."

They both smiled at the memory. "Thanks for coming in, Dawson," Pacey said quietly. "It meant, means…a lot."

"Even after you found me kissing you sister in the woods?"

"That really happened?"

Dawson breathed deep the wet summer air. "Oh, yeah."

"Seeing you like that certainly was a kick in the head."

"For me, too."

"Yeah, let's stop there. Didn't our no-details pact of Senior Year regarding sisters have a perpetuity subsection?"

"That's the one Felicity negotiated for us just after she got Ben and Noel into yoga?"

"Just wait until Lily has details that you don't want to hear."

"Shut up," Dawson instructed.

"We should get wood now."

"Wood is good."

"Plus, it's really starting to rain."

"Which we should be smart enough to get out of."

"Us?" Pacey laughed, stacking logs into Dawson's outstretched arms. "Never."

Inside, Joey pulled a sweater on over her wedding dress. Walking back into the great room, she leaned her chin on Bessie should as she cooked something.

"Hot chocolate," she sniffed happily. "Mom's way."

Bessie nodded. "Bodie's trying to get Alexander to go to sleep. This should help. There's enough for everyone."

Joey took orders and began filling mugs and putting them on a tray. Before she could carry it over, Jack hopped up and took it from her.

"Do we have lighter fluid?" Pacey asked from in front of the fireplace. "The wood's wet."

"No! I'm not about to let you two burn down the house," Bessie chided, coming back downstairs from delivering cocoa.

Gretchen pulled an old newspaper from the recycling bin and handed it Dawson for extra tinder. He lingered in taking it from her, their fingers touching.

Joey found a seat on the couch next to Andie and tucked her feet under her, uncaring of wrinkling her dress.

The fireplace began to glow as the fire caught, and Pacey curled up next to his wife. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked sleepy.

"This is familiar," he said happily. He looked over at Grams. "You once said that you know you love someone when you can just watch them sleep…"

"I did?" she thought.

"The night we opened the B&B," Dawson remembered.

"A long time ago," Bessie sighed.

They lost themselves in memory, until Dawson cleared his throat and raised his mug. Leaning against the mantle, he said, "I'd like to make a toast."

They groaned at him.

"No, really. Bessie and Doug did a great job at the reception. I have just a little to add."

He looked at Gretchen and she seemed to understand, rising to join him standing by the fireplace mantle.

Clearing his throat a little self-consciously, he looked around. Jack, Grams, Bessie, Andie, and finally, Pacey and Joey.

"Sophomore year of high school, two snails gave their lives for Pacey's stupidity," he began.

Joey giggled as Dawson continued, "As he and his formerly mortal enemy, Joey, tried to right this heinous wrong and somehow go that extra step and encourage snail love…something special happened."

Dawson looked straight at Joey. "Pacey realized what the rest of us would only see later. What an amazing, beautiful, and bright woman our Miss Potter was becoming. And he asked me, as her stalwart friend and sometime soul-mate, for permission to court her."

Joey's eyes grew wide and she looked back and forth between Dawson and Pacey.

"And contrary to later historical accounts, I gave my blessing."

"I never knew this!" Joey announced.

"It's true," Pacey whispered into hair. "The night I-"

"Kissed me!" Joey recalled.

"Ahem, _my_ speech here,' Dawson reminded them. "Of course, I later waffled a bit on that decision…"

"You think?" Jack jibed.

"…But after the bloodshed and years of ensuing therapy, here we are. Right where we started."

He smiled softly at Joey and Pacey. "Pacey, here before witnesses, you have my permission to court Joey. To love her for the rest of your lives. In fact, you better."

"I will," Pacey promised.

"And Joey," Dawson exhaled. "Joey. You and Pacey became family today, but you have always been family to me. There you are, in every memory and photo album."

"With Pacey usually doing the rabbit ears thing over her head," Andie teased.

"True," Dawson acknowledged ruefully. "Joey, I am very happy as long as you are. And today, it is clear to the world that you are. So if everyone would raise your mugs." Everyone did, except Joey and Pacey, who took the attention with a slight blush. "To Joey, and to Pacey. Long life and happiness."

"To Joey and Pacey, long life and happiness," everyone cheered.

Dawson took a big swallow and then turned to wrap his arm around Gretchen.

"Uh, with that," Pacey kissed Joey's cheek and stood up. "I'd like to make a little toast of my own."

"If we learned nothing from 20 long seasons of the Simpsons, it's that love can make even the most undeserving guy in the world into a cartoon antihero. Or, in my case, a very happy guy."

He glanced over at Joey. "We talked about how to say this, and then we decided that straight out would be best. Joey and I are…"


	7. Chapter 7 Happily Ever After

_W/N: Dawson's Creek doesn't belong to me, I'm just taking the characters out to play._

_Thank you, thank you...for reading this - my first ever fluffball. And for commenting and reviewing. You made this worth the trip. _

**…………………………oooooooooo0000000000oooooooooo…………………………**

_"Uh, with that," Pacey kissed Joey's cheek and stood up. "I'd like to make a little toast of my own."_

_"If we learned nothing from 20 long seasons of the Simpsons, it's that love can make even the most undeserving guy in the world into a cartoon antihero. Or, in my case, a very happy guy."_

_He glanced over at Joey. "Joey and I are…"_

He paused, as the grandfather clock began a long, slow chime of the midnight hour.

"Just say it," Andie laughed.

"Pregnant?" Jack guessed.

"…very happy that you all came to our wedding," Pacey said, a stern look to Jack. "We know we didn't give you a lot of notice…"

"That's what Travelocity is for," Gretchen joked.

"…but I have to say that some of what made today a permanent fixture in the top 10 of my life came not only from the woman I got to marry – but the people who shared that moment with me. You guys? Complete me." He grinned.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Ryan said warmly.

"Yeah," Andie agreed. "We wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Thanks," Pacey said, seriously, looking around the room. Then he caught Joey's eyes. "My beautiful, miraculous, wife also has a little news…"

"You're with child?" Jack laughed.

Grams playfully tapped the back of his head.

Joey got right to the point. "I got a job! Actually, I sort of got my old one back. I'm going to be story editing for my publisher," she announced. "One of their imprints is based in Boston; the work will be mostly home-based."

"That's wonderful!" Dawson was the first to congratulate her. The rest quickly followed with a noisy round of congratulations and hugs.

Dawson settled back down to his seat by the hearth. As Joey talked details with Andie and Jack, he found himself distracted by the warmth and the flames.

"What are you thinking?" Gretchen asked in his ear.

"All this. You know? Jen should be here."

Everyone fell quiet.

"Yeah," Jack told him. "And insisting we break out the tequila."

"I believe that she is here," Grams announced. "I feel her joy."

"When she was in the hospital," Pacey remembered, turning serious. "I promised that I would help Amy know her. Know who Jen was…"

"This, this right here with all of us," Andie offered. "This was her, too. When we would be all together."

"Weddings and funerals…" Jack said.

"It doesn't have to be that way," Pacey disagreed.

"What about Easter Dinner?" Joey asked.

"Easter Dinner?"

"Yeah, next year?. All of us, the families, the kids. Here at the B&B…Bessie?"

"I can block off all reservations," she offered. "And if there were too many people for the actual meal, we could close down-"

"The Icehouse," Pacey agreed.

Jack looked to Grams and nodded. "We're in. And Doug and Amy."

Andie nodded. "Me, too."

Dawson looked at Gretchen intently. "Spring is crazy time at the networks," he demurred.

Andie threw a pillow at his head. Gretchen caught it off the bounce before it fell into the fire screen. "Well, count me in," she stuck out her tongue at Dawson.

"Yes, OK, me, too," Dawson capitulated with a half-grin, stealing the pillow. "I promise. Even if I have to bring some exec's and negotiate over deviled eggs."

"Good," Joey sighed happily.

"Good," Pacey agreed.

"Good," agreed Grams and Andie at the same moment.

Which cracked Jack up, and started around of laughter for no reason.

"The big question is, who will cook."

"Bodie!" Bessie and Joey shouted.

"What?!" Pacey exploded in mock outrage.

It was into the wee hours, with the hot chocolate long gone cold, when they finally broke up. Reluctantly gathering themselves up, finding their things, and wandering towards their rooms or out to cars.

Jack made sure that Mrs. Ryan was settled comfortably, while Bessie got her luggage.

"Sleepy?" Dawson asked, twining his fingers with Gretchen's outside her room.

"Yeah. And glad I'm not staying at my parents, talk about a madhouse…"

He nodded in understanding, his eyes locked with hers. "I'm expecting a sister-sized whirlwind very early in the morning."

"It IS very early in the morning," Gretchen teased. It was too soon to invite him to stay with her, but she didn't want him to leave.

And he didn't want to go.

"Can you come to the infamous family brunch tomorrow? I mean, bring everyone…"

"You couldn't keep me away," he promised. "After, could we head off somewhere, just us? Maybe a walk down the coast by your old place?"

"I'd like that," she agreed.

Dawson pulled Gretchen close for a long kiss before digging out the rental car keys from his pocket. "Sweet dreams."

"You, too."

He waved to Bessie and headed into the foggy night, a smile on his face.

As he got onto the path, Dawson saw her standing near his car.

"Hi," he said, his breath misting in the air.

"Hi."

Even with the light sweater, she seemed cold. "I meant to say this before," he said, shrugging off his jacket and putting it over her shoulders. "You made a beautiful bride, Jo."

"Thanks," she pulled the lapels tight against the cool air. "The dress…"

"It's not the dress... it's the way you looked at him. I meant what I said before. You were luminescent, Jo."

"And you're quoting Spielberg movies, so we must be all right."

"We're more than all right," he pulled into his arms. "Much more than all right."

"Thank you," She whispered. "For getting here. For re-enacting Planes, Trains and Automobiles to be here."

"Nothing would have kept me from it," he promised. "Not even Spielberg."

"Can you handle some more news?" she asked into his chest.

"I may, just literally, explode." He laughed.

On the other end of the drive, Andie followed Pacey out to his car. They were loaded down with wedding gifts and sundry things that had to go home with the newlyweds.

"You set for tonight?" he asked her, opening the back of the Cherokee and pushing things in.

"Absolutely. And Jack and Doug are picking me and Grams up for brunch. I know I joked before about you guys waiting to leave on your honeymoon, but I'm glad you will be there."

"Oh, yeah, can't think of a better send-off that eating cinnamon rolls with that ragtag band of poster-children for dysfunctional families known as the Witters," Pacey said, taking the boxes from her and loading them.

"And Jackers and Doug and Amy, and me," Andie protested.

"Only thing that makes it bearable," Pacey told her.

She glanced over to where Dawson and Joey were talking. "Do you think she's telling him?"

"God, I hope so," Pacey sighed, resting on the bumper.

"When is the general announcement?"

"Tomorrow, at brunch."

"Jack's gonna go ballistic."

"I know," Pacey grinned. "Thanks for keeping the secret." He wrapped his arm on her shoulders for a long moment.

"It'll be worth it to watch their faces," she smiled. Then, with a small sigh, she slipped out of reach. "It was a lovely wedding Pace. I'm glad you're happy."

"Thanks, McPhee," Pacey's voice grew husky. "You know, when I think about the trajectory my life would have taken if you hadn't…"

"Me, too," she said.

"No…" he shook his head. "You were always a rock star. Why you graced my firmament is one of the great mysteries of the universe."

"No mystery at all," she laughed. "'Night."

"Andie," he called, making her turn back. "I just. I want you to know..."

She nodded. "Me, too. Good night."

"Good night," he answered. But she'd already gone back inside.

He exhaled and looked back to where his wife stood, still talking to Dawson.

Watched as she handed him back his coat. Watched as he reached down and kissed her forehead, resting his head against hers for a long time before letting her go. Felt a twinge of something, but the satisfaction in Pacey's soul outweighed it.

He began walking slowly towards her as she began walking towards him.

They met in the middle. "I missed you," he said against her lips before kissing her, deeply.

"It was 5 minutes," she teased him, before kissing him back.

"Torture," he told her, pressing against her.

"Oh, absolutely," she agreed, stumbling a bit on the gravel.

"You know, these shoes definitely weren't made for all-terrain," Pacey reached down and lifted her into his arms, carrying her over to the Cherokee. With a happy, surprised laugh, Joey wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his ear.

"Don't distract the driver, woman," he chided, gently dropping her into the passenger seat.

"Did you tell him?" Pacey finally asked, once they were both settled and he had the engine going.

He looked over at her and she nodded.

"How'd it go?"

"A few years ago, it would have been lethal," she admitted honestly.

"But tonight?"

_"Not_ lethal." She glanced out the window and then back at Pacey. "It will take a while, but he seemed sincerely excited."

"Good," he sighed in relief. "Although I can't help but wonder - how much of that is because of my sister?"

"Yeah, wouldn't that be interesting?"

"What?"

"If, after all these years, Dawson would end up our child's uncle?"

"Bite your tongue, wife," he growled, leaning in close to taste her lips and let his hand rest possessively against her still-flat belly.

"Oh," she teased mischievously. "You first."

From his own car, Dawson had watched. The news ringing in his ears. Unsure how he felt, just trying to wrap his mind around it.

_Once upon a time, he'd slept by her side and never wondered about a time when he wouldn't – until he'd seen her standing on his lawn next to Pacey and felt his heart ripped in two._

_So the fairytale, as it turned out, had been about them? And he'd just been the visiting prince? The deus ex machina in their plot? The odd-man-out friend who raised his cup to their joy...?_

With a bitter swallow, Dawson shook his head.

_No._

_She was **Joey**. And he was **Pacey**._

_In another world, yeah, it had happened another way. Hell, it already had – on his television show._

_But here on Earth, they were happy. Happy. And he was happy for them. After everything they'd all lost and hurt – it was time for some happiness, dammit._

With a long breath, he looked back at the B&B. At the window of Gretchen's room. Smiled to himself.

_And the truth was, the empty spaces in his life definitely weren't Joey-shaped anymore._

In front of him, Dawson could see the couple kissing reflected softly through the windshield.

With a melancholy shake of his head, he turned the steering wheel and pressed the gas. Pulling around them and out to the road.

And headed home.


End file.
